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She was determined to set a record straight, and in doing so proved to herself her mental and physical strength.
As the personal trainer tells it, "Two years ago I ran the race for a client who was a breast cancer patient, and when I was given my number it said 'survivor' on it. I didn't think it would matter and just ran the race. But after it was over, I heard my name called and was asked to come to the stand for the final ceremony. The governor was there with the organizers-and this year, too. But I had to tell them it was a mistake, I didn't deserve any award."
The "irony," she said, came later, this past January, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
She underwent a double mastectomy at New Milford Hospital about six weeks ago, Mrs. Hastey said earlier this week in an interview just as she was about to go to the hospital again, to begin the follow-up radiation treatment program.
The sequence of events in January remains clear. "On Thursday, I was on the phone with a friend, a nurse, who had a client with breast cancer who was not doing very well. It was on my mind that I hadn't had a mammogram for about four years, but I checked my breasts regularly. That Saturday, in the shower, I found a lump."
Her doctor quickly arranged for an ultrasound scan and a mammogram.
"What I had found was nothing, they said-fibrous tissue-but the deep-tissue tests showed early-stage cancer," Mrs. Hastey said.
She told her family-husband Charlie; daughter Savannah, 14; and son Eli, 11-and then was quick to make her decision.
"I was brutally honest with all of them. I told them I wanted to address this very aggressively and went for a bi-lateral mastectomy," and it turned out that there were cancerous cells in both breasts, Mrs. Hastey said. "In the pathology report, there were three more cancer sites."
It was, she said, very site specific-"DCIS, ductal carcinoma in situ"-and she elected to undergo radiation treatment rather than further, "exploratory" surgery at this point.
"My daughter only had one question: 'Was it hereditary?'" she added, noting that there was no history of it in her family.
"I'm known as the healthiest person in my family-I ran 30 to 35 miles a week, ate salad every day and did all the 'right' things to be healthy. This is just a random case," Mrs. Hastey said.
Very early on, "it became my goal to regain my mis-taken title," she said. "It was very, very important to me, and I came right up to the wire to be able to do it."
She had been told that she would start to run again about three or four weeks after her surgery.
"I had been walking every day but then had only a week and a half to get ready for the 5K (3.1-mile) race," Mrs. Hastey said.
Friends say, as her family knows well, that Mrs. Hastey is remarkably calm in addressing a major challenge.
"She's amazing," said Linda Rich, in a phone interview earlier this week.
"On behalf of her posse, it was an unforgettable experience to watch her run-and WIN!" said Vicki Cook, speaking for several friends. "[She] took our breath away."
Mrs. Hastey said what she is experiencing now "is just one of those things.
"I didn't get the anger, the 'Why me?'" she continued. "I think, 'Why not me?' We all have challenges in life. I have a very strong faith that keeps me going and am very peaceful about it. I think God places us in situations where we learn a lot about ourselves, and others. You get to see your own strengths from something like this-it's a learning process."
Mrs. Hastey, who holds a degree in physical education and recreational therapy, had been employed at The Homesteads in Newtown but was laid off just before undergoing surgery, and that, she said, was another blessing.
"We knew there would be layoffs, and it was very stressful going in every day wondering if that was the day ...," she said. "Now I have time for recovery."
Mrs. Hastey said she would be undergoing further reconstructive surgery in about a month's time.
In the meantime, she said, "I'll just keep running."
